Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Gerard O’ConnellDecember 21, 2020
(iStock) 

Two cardinals who work closely with Pope Francis have contracted Covid-19. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, 57, the pope’s almoner and his main contact with the poor and needy in Rome and elsewhere, and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, 78, the president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, have both tested positive for the coronavirus.

Adnkronos, an Italian news agency, which first broke the news about Cardinal Krajewski, reports that he tested positive in the Vatican Health and Hygiene Unit, has symptoms of pneumonia and was transferred to the Gemelli Hospital, where he is now. The Vatican has confirmed the story. Both cardinals were absent from the audience of Pope Francis with the Roman Curia this morning, a Vatican official who was present told America.

The Vatican health authority is making contact with Vatican employees and others with whom the two cardinals had been in contact in recent days. They both work very closely with Pope Francis, and Cardinal Krajewski was seen speaking to him at length last Friday, according to Il Messagero, a Rome daily. The paper also first reported that Cardinal Bertello has tested positive for Covid. America has received independent confirmation of this from a Vatican source.

Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican office for Hygiene and Health, announced last week that the Vatican plans to vaccinate its employees and the citizens of the city-state, as well as the families of lay employees. America understands that this will be in mid-January.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was the first head of a Vatican office to test positive for Covid, he tested positive on arrival in Manila as America reported at the time. Other Vatican employees, both clerical and lay, and 14 Swiss Guards, also tested positive but all are now cured.

We don’t have comments turned on everywhere anymore. We have recently relaunched the commenting experience at America and are aiming for a more focused commenting experience with better moderation by opening comments on a select number of articles each day.

But we still want your feedback. You can join the conversation about this article with us in social media on Twitter or Facebook, or in one of our Facebook discussion groups for various topics.

Or send us feedback on this article with one of the options below:

We welcome and read all letters to the editor but, due to the volume received, cannot guarantee a response.

In order to be considered for publication, letters should be brief (around 200 words or less) and include the author’s name and geographic location. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

We open comments only on select articles so that we can provide a focused and well-moderated discussion on interesting topics. If you think this article provides the opportunity for such a discussion, please let us know what you'd like to talk about, or what interesting question you think readers might want to respond to.

If we decide to open comments on this article, we will email you to let you know.

If you have a message for the author, we will do our best to pass it along. Note that if the article is from a wire service such as Catholic News Service, Religion News Service, or the Associated Press, we will not have direct contact information for the author. We cannot guarantee a response from any author.

We welcome any information that will help us improve the factual accuracy of this piece. Thank you.

Please consult our Contact Us page for other options to reach us.

City and state/province, or if outside Canada or the U.S., city and country. 
When you click submit, this article page will reload. You should see a message at the top of the reloaded page confirming that your feedback has been received.

The latest from america

The direct action of San Diego Bishop Michael Pham is likely to leave a stronger impression in the minds of the public—and of the immigrants who are circling in and out of court—than any written statement.
Zac DavisJune 23, 2025
“This is not policy, it is punishment, and it can only result in cruel and arbitrary outcomes.”
June 23, 2025
Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican as they join him for the recitation of the Angelus prayer and an appeal for peace hours after the U.S. bombed nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran on June 22. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
“Let diplomacy silence the guns!” Pope Leo XIV told the crowd in St. Peter’s Square a few hours after the United States entered the Iran-Israel war by bombing three of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Gerard O’ConnellJune 22, 2025
Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool during the pope's meeting with members of the media on May 12 in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo XIV’s statement was read at the premiere of a play about the Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz, who was subject to death threats because of her reporting on sexual abuse.
Gerard O’ConnellJune 21, 2025